The Phillies will try to do something today that they haven’t done all year–and that’s sweep a series. In fact, it’s the first time this year that they will even be in a position to do so.

Roy Halladay will get the start, and he’s coming off a performance against the Nationals where he let up five runs in six innings and took the loss. He’s been “off” this year, and even admitted that he didn’t feel himself, as well as admitting to trying to carry the team on his back.

He’ll have a tought ime getting Carlos Beltran out today, as Beltran has 14 hits in 42 at-bats with two home runs and 10 RBI against the Phillies righty. However, Halladay has good numbers against Yadier Molina (2-11), David Freese (1-8), and Matt Holliday (1-10). I don’t know what to expect from Roy today, but I don’t expect those three to be a huge factor.

For the Cardinals, Adam Wainwright will start the game, and he’s having a down year after missing all of 2011 with an injury. He’s posted a 4.78 ERA in 2012, which is over a full run above his career average of 3.08. He gave up five runs in each of his last two starts prior to this past Tuesday when he threw a complete game shutout against the Padres. He has “OK” numbers against the current Phillies, with Hunter Pence (10 hits in 32 AB) having faced him the most.

One interesting thing is that Jimmy Rollins and Mike Fontenot have nearly identical stats against Wainwright. They both have six hits in 17 AB against him, both have two doubles and five strikeouts, and have identical slash lines–.353/.353/.471. It will probably take a good amount of offense to win today’s game, and the Phils are hoping that Wainwright’s last outing wasn’t a sign of things to come.

Your Gameday Beer – Hoegaarden
On this warm Memorial Day weekend, good beer is a must. I’ve always like Hoegaarden, which can be enjoyed in small sips with good food. It flows smooth and tastes like citrus. Have some barbecue chicken with it. – By Tim

everyone was suspecting a problem with doc since spring training with his lack of velocity. well hear it is shoulder soreness! i’ll bet he’s had it all along and tried to work through it being the trooper he is. however we all know that when you’re dumb enough to think you can work through it … then you’re just dumb! by trying to work it out by pitching with a problem to be a help to a struggling team only in the long run it hurts the team ! how many times have we seen that over the years? like i said on a post a few days ago, he was following the demise of another great pitcher (lefty) and his shouder soreness was rotator cuff and that was it! all downhill after that. i hope that’s not the case but i fear it’s not gonna go well. the phils try to downplay certain players injuries and suspect they’ll downplay this. if worley comes back we’re gonna need a righty long man in the pen cause KK just earned a spot in the rotation. it time for tyler cloyd to come up!

I’d wait a bit before announcing the demise of Halladay. A sore shoulder is not always a rotator cuff; in fact, sometimes it can be something as simple as sleeping in an awkward position. There’s also been some debate concerning his velocity. Not all radar guns are created equal, and not all scouts are geniuses. And sportswriters are definitely not qualified to blather anything but what they think will make a good headline.

all due respect george. i agree about the sleep thing, i’ve had it happen to me but it’s usally ok after a day or two and i’m 61! but doc’s been suffering with low velocity and command since the beginning of s.t. i hope you’re right man but my better judgement tells me uh-oh. i’ve seen this so many times.

Sports writers spend their days talking to players, coaches, managers, front office people, scouts and other people within the game that they write about. It’s their job. I’d say they are pretty qualified – definitely much more than some anonymous chuckleheads on a message board.

Sure they talk to players, etc. But they also interpret and put spin on things. The job of a sportswriter is not just talking to players, it’s deciding which elements of a player or scout’s OWN OPINIONATED discourse will make a story.

Yes, even players, scouts, and front offices speak out the wrong sides of their mouths at times. Has anyone here really believed Amaro, Jr. when he talks about Howard or Utley?
Did anyone believe that Lee would NOT sign with the Yanks or Rangers? Reported by a writer: Scout (who probably watches Halladay now and then) says “different arm angle,” Dubee, (who sees him every time he throws) says “no.” Great reporting, if you like inflammatory speculation.

I may be a “chucklehead,” but I never claimed to tell the truth like so many people writing professionally. You just can’t trust everything said by these guys. They can’t even agree among themselves.

A friend told me last week that the Phillies sellout streak ended, and the Phils have been keeping it quiet. I was just checking on that, and I don’t think it’s true. The official published capacity is 43,647. I checked the attendance for every home game since May 8 (when several news articles sent up the alarm that the streak might be ending soon). The lowest home attendance since then was May 15: 43,781. But the numbers are definitely trending downward.

That’s a total no-brainer. It’s: A. Baez. He sucked for one and a half seasons, and he was also more expensive than either of the others. IN fact, I think he cost more than Qualls and Herndon put together. Qualls, right now, would come in second, because Herndon at least is young enough to have a tiny bit of potential, gets some ground balls, and hardly costs anything.

99.9 % agreed with what George said. On top of that the Baez signing was even more riskier or dumber than the Qualls signing. I remember reading in a Baltimore website they couldnt wait to get rid of Baez and we where clowned on signing him.